#863: Minister’s Pay Rise Long Overdue? & S’pore Creators Cause Offence With A Prank

Haresh (0:00)

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Terence (0:39)

What's up everybody?

Haresh (0:40)

Welcome to another episode of Yah Lah.

Terence (0:42)

Ba ba ba ba.

Haresh (0:44)

Your thrice weekly podcast, where we talk about the hottest news with a touch of what, Terence?

Terence (0:48)

Good old humor.

Haresh (0:49)

Good old humor, man.

Terence (0:51)

Yeah.

Haresh (0:52)

It's the end of week episode.

Terence (0:54)

Yeah. And super important episode, right?

Haresh (0:56)

Yeah, man.

Terence (0:56)

Because, yeah. I mean, what else is there to talk about?

It's dominating the headlines. Can you believe that iPhone is now $3,000?

Haresh (1:05)

I know. I know. And so far the reviews have been okay.

Terence (1:09)

Really? The iPhone duo, the new photo.

Haresh (1:11)

It's good.

Terence (1:12)

I mean, it's the future of phones, supposedly, but it costs like $3,099.

Haresh (1:17)

And you know what is the annoying thing? I think I asked you this that day a few days ago. So like for the iPhone 17, let's say you're thinking of getting that, would they increase the price? And you said you were quite confident they'll increase the price, right? And they did.

Terence (1:28)

They did, yeah.

Haresh (1:30)

So, and I mean, because when I was looking at Mac rumors and all online, they said, there's a chance it might, there's a chance it might stay the same with discontinued lines, but they increased it.

Terence (1:39)

So do you regret not listening to my advice?

Haresh (1:41)

No. Okay.

Terence (1:42)

So you just paid an extra $100?

Haresh (1:44)

I mean, there are other, you can, that's if you get it from the Apple website, there are other places that you can officially get like new phones that still have the old price. So yeah, no regrets.

Terence (1:57)

People like you are why I stopped this spursing advice about tech products. Because I just live and breathe this stuff. I watch all the reviews and kind of see these trends coming. I tell people and then they don't believe me. Then later when it really happens, they're like, yeah, I don't care. I don't regret.

Haresh (2:13)

So when you say people, I assume it's not just me. So maybe it's some self-reflection, Terence. It might not be the info. It is the way you deliver it.

Terence (2:21)

Correct, correct. Yeah, communications, very important thing. It's just some people don't like to listen to experts. Unfortunately, you know, in this day and age.

Haresh (2:29)

Sometimes experts also need to understand why people don't listen.

Terence (2:34)

Too shame, correct? And Rachel, very in line with what we talk about today.

Haresh (2:38)

Exactly, exactly. There's so much we're happening about over the past few days with very, very similar themes as to what we just talked about. And that is the whole discussion around ministerial salaries. You know, our intro banter today also so damn short because it's just, just can't wait to talk about this.

Because for context on Tuesday, there were two ministerial statements delivered, first by Lawrence Wong and then Chan Chun Seng about the proposed increase in ministerial salaries. And then there was a debate on Thursday, 10 September in Parliament, when the, to discuss what was presented on Tuesday.

Terence (3:18)

Yeah, correct.

Haresh (3:18)

Yeah, and I mean, we, I think the first time that the public caught wind of the ministerial statements being delivered on Tuesday about the salaries, it was quite late, right?

Terence (3:32)

Very late, very late, yeah.

Even on the day off itself, I was like, oh, I thought that the statement was going to be given on Thursday, but actually it was given on Tuesday and the debate was on Thursday. So yeah, I mean, people are telling me about it. And I was like, huh? I thought only Thursday, then they're like, oh, no, no, today's you're going to hear the numbers really, right? But I mean, the numbers, when they dropped, I think we were together outside for a meeting and all that. What was your most immediate initial reaction?